Streams of weary but elated pilgrims began leaving Mecca after completing the hajj, concluding days of intense rituals carried out under searing heat and amid deep anxieties over conflict across the Middle East.

Saudi authorities said more than 1.7 million Muslims from 165 countries converged on Islam’s holiest city this year, turning the usually bustling Mecca and its surrounding valleys into a vast sea of white-clad worshippers. The pilgrimage unfolded as tensions flared across the region, with US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory drone and missile attacks rattling Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia.

The conflict weighed heavily on some delegations. Iran, a key regional power, sent just over 30,000 pilgrims, roughly a third of the 86,000 originally expected. The state news agency IRNA attributed the sharp drop to what it called a wartime situation, underscoring how geopolitics has seeped into one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.

For many pilgrims, however, the journey remained deeply personal. “I can’t believe I completed the hajj,” said Ahmed Mamdouh, a 37-year-old Egyptian performing the pilgrimage for the first time. Fighting back tears, he described the experience as both exhausting and transformative, especially under the punishing sun. “I am very happy that I completed the rituals safely. Hajj is truly exhausting, especially in such hot weather,” he said.

Algerian pilgrim Al-Zaoui, 74, leaned on his wife as they prepared to depart. “It was our dream to perform the Hajj together,” he said. “Now that dream has come true after 50 years of marriage.”

The final days of hajj saw pilgrims in the valley of Mina, southeast of Mecca, completing the symbolic stoning of the devil, casting pebbles at three concrete pillars that represent the temptations faced by the Prophet Abraham. From there, they boarded buses back to the Grand Mosque to perform the farewell tawaf, circling the Kaaba seven times in a last act of devotion before leaving the holy city.

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is obligatory once in a lifetime for Muslims who are physically and financially able. This year’s pilgrimage again highlighted the growing challenge of heat. After more than 1,300 deaths were recorded during the 2024 hajj, when temperatures exceeded 50 degrees Celsius, Saudi authorities expanded shaded areas and deployed thousands of additional health workers. The Saudi Red Crescent reported providing emergency services to more than 83,000 people over the course of the season.